House passes bill adding more teeth to Anti-Money Laundering Act

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — A day after it was passed on second reading, the House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading a bill which sought to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

There were 141 who voted for its passage, seven against it and one abstention during nominal voting at past 6 p.m.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has earlier said that House Bill 6565 would ensure that the country’s anti-money laundering law was “compliant with updated and revised international anti-money laundering or counter-terrorist financing standards.”

House majority leader Neptali Gonzales II said that if enacted, HB 6565 would enable the country to honor its commitments under the Vienna Convention of 1988 as well as the Palermo Convention of 2001.

The Philippines has earlier been blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which felt it was not being cooperative in its campaign against money laundering and terrorist financing.

One of the amendments proposed in the measure is to change the definition of money laundering to include conversion, transfer, disposition, movement, acquisition, possession, use, concealment or disguise of the proceeds of any unlawful activity.

Leyte Representative Sergio Apostol, House banks and financial intermediaries panel chair, said that aside from expanding the list of financial institutions covered by the AMLA, HB 6565 will also include designated non-financial businesses and professions as reporting institutions.

It also seeks to authorize the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to file a civil forfeiture case upon determination of probable cause.

It will also grant the AMLC to impose administrative sanctions and keep 25 percent of the net proceeds of forfeited assets.